


don't skip leg day

by ultraviolentae



Category: NCT (Band)
Genre: Fluff, M/M, One Shot, check intial notes for possible trigger warning, gym lover jeno, gym receptionist renjun
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-07-20
Updated: 2018-07-20
Packaged: 2019-06-13 17:10:12
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 9,341
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/15369318
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/ultraviolentae/pseuds/ultraviolentae
Summary: Money is great. Money allows him to pay his bills and not depend on his parents so much, he always had preferred to be selfless. But like most things, it came with its downsides. And that by that Renjun meant the annoyingly amount of bulky sweaty males that decided he would enjoy their crude flirting.





	don't skip leg day

**Author's Note:**

> okay so!! as for the trigger warnings, and this sort of spoils an aspect in the story but that's better than someone feeling triggered, renjun has a bad ex that bothers him in one of the scenes so i suggest if you have experienced that and is something that triggers you then maybe don't read? idk im bad with this but just wanted to warn beforehand
> 
> that aside, sorry for any typos!! (i have yet to proofread this properly ngl)

**M** oney is great. Money allows him to pay his bills and not depend on his parents so much, he always had preferred to be selfless. But like most things, it came with its downsides. And that by that Renjun meant the annoyingly amount of bulky sweaty males that decided he would enjoy their crude flirting. Really, he was just trying to do his job and then suddenly some scarily big dude would start to painfully obviously get inside his pants. If it was just a casual small talk, then maybe Renjun wouldn't be so bothered, but that just wasn't the case.

“Ready for another day?” Donghyuck, his co-worker who shared his shifts with him, asks as he slams his rucksack on the floor.

“No.”

“That's the spirit!”

He sits down and pulls his phone out right away while Renjun rummaged through his bag. The job was easy, and paid quite well -- after all there had to be some reason to not quit after being constantly annoyed for a whole month. All they had to do was check that no stranger used their facilities and help the newbies who didn't know how to use the machines. Occasionally serve as bartenders too.

It was peaceful for about one hour, mostly only old people were coming in. Renjun had lost himself in his drawings that he didn't notice someone had been staring intensely at him for many minutes. “What are you drawing?” The smooth and deep -- but not _too_ deep, not deep enough to send chills down his body and scare the living shit out of him -- voice snaps him out of it.

He looks up and finds a young boy, probably around his age, looking at him with curiosity and a cup of water in his hand. “Just... scribbles.” Renjun mumbles.

The boy quirks his eyebrow while drinking and then licks his lips when he's finished. Renjun doesn't recall seeing him around, he feels intrigued. “You like to draw?” He seems genuinely interested but Renjun had already gave too much discount to too many males.

“Yes.” He replies curtly and looks back to his lap, usually that didn't quite do the trick since the men were pushy but, very much to his surprise, the boy seems to get the hint.

“Have a nice day then.” He chirps, faint smile on his lips as he puts the cup down. Renjun eyes him as he turns his (broad, and fairly sweaty) back to him and heads to the machine lounge.

Donghyuck elbows his ribs making him cry out in pain. “He's cute.”

“Whatever.”

 

 

University work was killing him slowly, he had stayed awake almost all night to finish a project that was due to next morning. His head was pounding, eye bags so big they looked comical, all in all he felt like a zombie.  

Work was work, though. And even if he preferred to be at home taking a nap, his duty was more important.

“What's wrong sweetcheeks?” He hears and contains the urge to roll his eyes, there was no way in hell he could be rude to the clients. Not if he wanted to earn money.

“Not much.” Renjun shoots him a fake smile. “Can I help you?”

The man clicks his tongue and leans closer, it takes everything in Renjun to not flinch. “I mean, there’s many ways you can help me.” He wiggles his eyebrows.

Donghyuck butts in, noticing how close Renjun was to puking his breakfast all over the male’s face. “In what way? Would you like a hot choco?” He asks innocently and keeps his forced smile even when the man glares at him. “Anything?”

“No thank you, I’m good.” The other grumbles and stands up straight again. “Was nice seeing you.” He says looking right into Renjun’s eyes and then winks, in what he probably thought was a seductive way. It was everything but that in the boy’s eyes, though. He felt like regurgitating.

Renjun throws his head back and closes his eyes, mostly to rest his tired brain, but also to calm himself down. He felt like throwing fists at anyone that tried talking to him, it didn’t matter if he was in the middle of gym lovers and would definitely lose. “Renju-”

“Not now.” He spits out, not caring if he was being rude. Out of everyone, he knew Donghyuck would understand what he was going through since he too had to deal with it.

“Okay.” The boy whispers. “How can I help you?” Donghyuck asks, but before Renjun could answer and make a fool out of himself by assuming the boy was talking to him, a familiar voice sounds.

“Do you guys do lemonade?”

Renjun cracks one of his eyes open and is met by a soft gaze. “We sure do, please wait.” Donghyuck says politely and gets to work while Renjun ponders if he should sit properly since he was in front of a customer or forget his responsibilities for a few minutes. After thinking about for a while, he decides to close his eyes again and say fuck it to everything else.

“Are you okay?” Renjun furrows his eyebrows but, honestly, didn’t quite feels like murdering the boy for asking. “Sorry for asking-”

“I’m okay.” He cuts him off and finally decides to stop slacking off so he sits properly again. “Thanks for asking.”

Before the other could say anything else Donghyuck comes with a cup of lemonade. Renjun watches the boy with curious eyes, suddenly he wondered what his name was but that was personal. If he asked that, it showed interest and Renjun knew how that always ended up.

He moves his gaze somewhere else just so he wouldn’t have to deal with the awkwardness of being caught staring if the boy decided to move his eyes from Donghyuck. “Anyways could one of you help me with something? I don’t really know how one of the new machines works.” Renjun perks up at that and mentally slaps himself for feeling somewhat excited to help him.

“Jun? Could you please-”

“Sure.” He cleans the palms of his hands in his jeans. “You shouldn’t do all the work, I’m sorry.”

“All good, don’t worry.” Donghyuck pats his back and then moves lower so he can whisper right next to his ear. “If they bother you just leave and I'll do it for you, okay?” Renjun nods with a soft smile on his lips, Donghyuck was a prick sometimes but had a heart of gold.

He doesn’t look at the boy as he stands up and walks from behind the counter towards the machine lounge, something inside of him told him to keep distance even if, for some unknown reason, the boy made him feel calm inside unlike the uneasy feelings he’d receive with most of the other males.

Maybe he was overthinking like usual.

“Which machine?” Renjun asks softly and finally raises his eyes to look at the other, he tries his best to ignore the rest of the people inside and focus on him instead.

“Follow me.”

Renjun trails behind him with his head up high but not looking at anything in specific, he didn’t want to acknowledge anyone but also didn’t want to be seen as fragile by trying to hide himself. What he had figured out after a few weeks in, was that for some stupid reason, those men loved feeling as if he was some tiny fragile princess that couldn't take care of himself. He hated that the most.

The boy stops by said machine and chuckles awkwardly. “It doesn’t have instructions yet so…” He trails off and waits for Renjun to speak.

“Right, we’re still taking care of that.” Renjun clicks his tongue and gets on the machine to show how it functioned since he was better at that than trying to explain it using words.

“Watch out, princess, you might break your back!” He hears in the distance and rolls his eyes from behind his eyelids before opening them again and looking at the boy with a faint smile.

“Got it?”

He nods and bows down as Renjun steps out of the machine. “Sorry for the inconvenience.” His eyes search for something in the boy’s chest, when he seems to find what he was looking for his eyes lit up. “Thank you, Renjun.”

“You’re welcome.” Renjun messes his hair up and gives the boy a half smile.

“Jeno, my name is Jeno.”

“Right.” He quirks his eyebrow up. “You’re welcome, Jeno.”

 

Sometimes Renjun would wake up with the patience of a saint, or simply unbothered. Days like these were when Donghyuck finally for to lay back and let him do all the shifts checking if everything was running smoothly. Maybe it was useless to check if the gym addicts were using the machines wrong, but they surely didn’t want to be blamed for any injury.

He paces around the lounge casually, back straight, shoulders rolled back and an annoyed look on his face. Usually that did the trick, sometimes they used that excuse to hit on him by asking why ‘the princess’ was in such a bad humour. _Figures, right?_ So far, though, it seemed to be working.

“Hey Renjun!” The moment he hears his name being called out loud, his body turns to stone. Most males didn’t really bother looking at his name tag, too busy trying to find the next cheesy pickup line that would _definitely_ steal his heart.

Renjun looks around and finds Jeno smiling brightly with his arms busy pulling weights, how he could look so happy while torturing himself like that was beyond Renjun. “Hey chopstick legs.” He teases before he could think twice about it. The way Jeno’s face drops was hilarious, but also worrying even if he didn’t quite want to admit that. “Skipping leg day again, I see.”

Jeno looks down at his legs, arms up in the air comically. “Are they that bad?!” Renjun shrugs smugly. “I hate leg workout, though.”

“I can see that.”

“Stop.” He whines and lets go of the weights. “What do you recommend then?”

Renjun blinks back at him, he didn’t really expect Jeno to take him seriously. “Uh well, there’s the Leg Press and Leg Extension.” The boy looks at him like he was speaking Chinese, and for a moment Renjun really does think his brain had turned off his Korean switch. “You don’t know it?” Jeno shakes his head. “This is a tragedy.”

“Shut up.” He pouts and walks out of the machine. “Show me them.”

It takes a few seconds for Renjun’s brain to start working again, he had expected to be told to fuck off right away or ignored. But not _this._ Jeno looked like a puppy waiting to learn, even if it was obvious he wasn’t new to the workout scene. “Okay…” He mumbles. “I will miss your chicken legs.”

Jeno stomps his feet childishly, which only makes Renjun want to keep going but he wouldn’t dare step over his boundaries too much. After all, no matter how nice the boy was, he was still a client that he had to respect. “You sure will miss them, I’m going to get rid of them!” He says, loud and proud. Renjun can only cackle.

 

 

The shift had just started and he already had a headache from studying. Renjun had a big exam coming up and couldn’t afford to relax even if his brain was begging for him to do so, _talk about bad habits_. “Dude you’re going to pass out.” Donghyuck points out worriedly. “Just chill for a bit.”

“Can’t.”

“You should listen to him.” A third voice makes him flinch, Renjun looks at the direction of the sound and instinctively smiles.

“Don’t you have leg workout to get to? Don’t nag me.” He hisses, Jeno chuckles before finishing his drink and slamming the cup so hard that Renjun shrieks. “Are you nuts? You’d pay for that if you broke it.”

The boy shrugs. “I know, just wanted to take your attention of those ugly books.”

“Don’t get too comfortable.” Renjun grumbles and, thankfully, doesn’t see how badly Jeno’s smile turns into a frown for he probably would’ve let him have the comfort of treating him as if they were friends if he had.

Donghyuck shoots Jeno an apologetic look and shakes his head, as if he telling him it wasn’t his fault and Jeno smiles weakly before heading back to the lounge. Once he was far enough, Donghyuck tugs at Renjun’s T-shirt angrily. “You are so rude.”

“Fuck off, get off me.” He slaps the boy’s hand away. “I’m tired of this shit, just let me study in peace.”

“Fine.” The other says bitterly. “I’ll give you all the space you need.”

And he does, in fact they don’t speak for the two whole hours that make up their shift. Renjun was too tired and annoyed to care anyways.

 

“Can you tell Daehyun to come like an hour late?” He mumbles while grabbing his notebook and his coat, Donghyuck shoots him a puzzled look at that. “I need some fresh air, I’m sorry I really need it but I think you’ll be fine on your own right?”

The other nods weakly, he seemed more confused than annoyed at the sudden announcement. “Are you okay?”

Renjun wanted to say no, because he hadn’t been feeling all that well for weeks. He barely ate, didn’t want to talk to anyone, or move. All he wanted to do was stare at nothingness, but he couldn’t, not when he had such a big pile of things to do and responsibilities to think of. And so it all just kept building up, to the point where he was feeling so suffocated that he couldn’t do his job like he promised he would always do. “I just, need a break? I think, like fresh air. Thank for not being mad.”

Donghyuck pats his back as Renjun leaves the place behind the counter and heads to the little area outside with chairs, it wasn’t that far away so if Donghyuck really needed help he just had to call out for the other and he’d come right away.

Renjun sits back on the big chair, legs tucked in comfortably so his feet wouldn’t touch the ground, and opens the used notebook. He wouldn’t even bother to study, instead he just draws and drifts away as the wind gently blows his locks. Donghyuck still hadn’t called when he finally comes back down to Earth but the motivation to go back inside was nowhere to be found yet, so he lets his notebook closed on his lap and throws his head back to look up at the grey sky. He observes the clouds, even if there wasn’t much to observe, and loses himself once again in the peaceful silence.

The sound of something rustling, or whatever it was, awakens his curiosity. Renjun cracks one eye open and flinches when he realizes what exactly had caused the noise. “Hey.” Jeno whispers and smiles before looking ahead at the football fields. “How… Are you?”

He sounded so hesitant, Renjun hated how his body softened right away. “I don’t know.” The answer comes out automatically, distant but not quite rude since that was what he had learnt to instantly reply with to everyone around him. Donghyuck said it was a bad habit, he knew that but if it let him protect from unwanted people then so be it. Though, at that point he wasn’t sure if Jeno was unwanted.

It had been a while since they last talked, it wasn’t as if Renjun had even thought about him but his presence somehow was pleasing. So, definitely not unwanted. “Not that great.” He tries again, partly because he wanted Jeno to try to talk to him and not give up.

“Sorry to hear.” Jeno pouts and then bites his lip. “What helps?”

“I don’t really know.” Renjun shrugs. “Usually goes away when the problem is gone.”

The boy drifts his gaze towards him again, eyes him for a few seconds in silence, before gathering the courage to push further. “What’s bothering you?”

Renjun opens and closes his mouth a few times. Was it sleep deprivation? Overworking? He wasn’t even sure himself what exactly was making him feel like not waking up the next day, thinking such things were sort of scary. To the point where he just didn’t dare put it into words, he just hoped the feeling would vanish like it always would. “Lots… Of things at the same time. Mostly just too much school work.”

Jeno clicks his tongue. “I understand.” He chuckles lowly and shifts his body so he’s facing Renjun. “That’s why I come here, gotta take out the stress on something.”

“Sounds smart.” He admits and raises one of his eyebrows. “I should maybe try it, I thought about boxing.”

“Ah why not?” Jeno gets up and walks in front of him, he seemed confident once more but not annoyingly. Not in a scary way, or over the top to the point of making Renjun feel uncomfortable. Just, like Jeno finally didn’t act like he was a prey around his predator or something of the sort. “Hit the palms of my hand, try it.”

Renjun looks between Jeno’s palms and the boy’s face, he wasn’t sure if he wanted to kick the other like that. Not that he was strong or anything, but even so. “I don’t know.”

“Do I need to hit on you so that you feel annoyed?” Jeno smirks. “Because it’d be a pleasure.”

“Oh please.” He snorts and cracks his knuckles before slamming his fist against Jeno’s hand with all his strength. “Fuck, that hurts. But it feels good?”

“Let the frustration out, don’t think much of it.”

“Your hand, though-” Renjun starts and stops when Jeno rolls his eyes, _cocky bastard._ He starts slamming his fists repeatedly until his hands hurt too much to keep going, Jeno seemed to be hurting a bit too seeing by the way he scrunched up his nose while massaging his palms. “I’m sorry, does it hurt a lot?”

Jeno shakes his head, the frown of before suddenly replaced by a big grin. “Nothing much really.” He cleans his hands in his gym shorts and stands up straight to stretch his whole body. “You feel better?”

Renjun blinks back at him for a while, he hadn’t notice but he did feel somewhat more relieved. “Yeah, actually, I do.” He smiles faintly, grabs his notebook and stands up as well. “Thanks. I’m going now, I probably missed so much time of work and everything.”

“Right.” The boy says and looks inside to where Renjun was supposed to be. “Enjoy the rest of your day, then. I’ll be heading home now.”

He nods and runs back inside before the silence became unbearable and awkward. Donghyuck greets him while packing his things and then leaves as well with Jeno by his side, they seem to chat a little bit and the next thing Renjun knows they’ve vanished inside the changing rooms.

It felt empty, but even then Renjun still couldn’t get rid of the smile that seemed permanently  carved in his face. _Maybe he should really try boxing._

 

He still wasn't feeling all that great, and it had been a month since it all started. Renjun was starting to become desperate and hopeless, he couldn't afford to have a breakdown. What he also couldn't afford was a therapist, which left him stuck with trying to deal with everything and try to fix it by himself.

“Be right back.” He warns Donghyuck before heading towards the changing room area.

The sound of water falling on the floor was calming, his body relaxes just at that but as much as he wanted to just sit on the bench and stare at the lockers with it as background noise, Renjun couldn't. He enters the bathroom and stares at himself, to be honest he looked more dead than alive and it worried him really badly.

He sits on the toilet with the palms of his hands covering his face and focuses on the calming sound of the shower. Truthfully, he just needed to go away for a bit away from everyone else just to rest his tired brain.

Silence, and then the sound of slippers. Renjun perks up and rubs his eyes, it felt he had been there for a long time, Donghyuck was probably going to tease him about it. He gets up and splashes water on his face before getting mentally ready to go back to work.

Not even two seconds after stepping outside, Renjun felt like crawling back inside the room. He had been so close to shrieking when he had been faced with Jeno’s surprised face, somehow Renjun had managed to press his lips tightly together before that though. “Oh, hi?”

“Hi.” Renjun breathes out, he sounded like he had just ran the marathon.

“Are you okay? You look like you're going to pass out.” Jeno comes closer, hands ghosting on Renjun’s biceps since he didn't have the courage to actually touch the other.

Renjun stares at his face, body frozen by the overwhelming thoughts running through his head. Because well, he wasn't _blind_ . Jeno’s black wet hair dangled in front of his hair, some poked here and there messily, and maybe that was one of the hottest things he'd ever seen. It wasn't his fault, he shouldn't find Jeno attractive, but he was so nice _ohmygod_ Jeno was too nice for his own good and it made his heart melt. Gym rats were supposed to be cocky and arrogant.

“No.” He finally replies, eyes finally leave Jeno’s face and drift downwards towards his defined shoulder. Renjun wants to run. “I mean yes I'm fine all good!” His nervous laughter was awfully obvious, so much so that he cringes at himself.

“You don't look okay.”

 _Stop_. Renjun couldn't look away from how Jeno’s muscles moved whenever he moved, hypnotising. “I'm okay, sorry-”

Just as he was about to leave, Jeno finally gathers the courage to grab him and force him to stay. “You really don't look okay.” He moves lower so that he was eye level to Renjun, but before he could speak, a little screech leaves his lips instead. “Fuck, don't look down.”

Renjun furrows his eyebrows and then bursts out laughing at the realization of what had just happened. “Idiot, put some boxers on nobody wants to see that.”

Jeno flips him off and Renjun giggles while looking at the ceiling waiting for the other to do whatever he had to do. “Whatever we good now.” Renjun looks back at him, a white casual shirt covered the hypnotising muscles that were previously on display. There was a slight chance Renjun feels disappointed. “B-but really are you okay?”

He looks at Jeno’s now red cheeks due to the embarrassment and forces down the smile threatening to spread across his face. It frustrated him just how much he wanted to give in with Jeno and call him cute, it wasn't fair. _Why is he so sweet?_ “I'm good, really don't worry.”

Jeno pouts but nods nevertheless. “If you say so.”

“I should be going now, Donghyuck probably thinks I took a fat shit or something.” He rambles.

“Wow okay.” Jeno laughs loudly, eyes turn into crescents as he does so. _Adorable. Wait no._ “I'll see you around then.”

Renjun nods just before he closes the changing room’s door. “For sure!” He shouts and smiles when he hears Jeno’s giggle from inside the room.

 

“What's he doing?” Donghyuck asks and elbows Renjun’s ribs to grab his attention.

The other glares at him before following Donghyuck’s eyes and then cries out in pain. “Oh.” He blinks at the sight of Jeno flexing at the mirror. “I- Don't ruin him for me.”

Donghyuck lets out a loud laugh noticing how badly Renjun was cringing. “Gym rats will be gym rats no matter what.” They stare at the boy _still_ analysing his muscles on the big mirror. “He's still cute I mean.”

“Please.” Is all Renjun says before looking back at his book. “You just made me like five times less attracted to him, kudos to you.”

“Isn't that what you want, though?”

Renjun looks back up at Jeno in silence, _did he?_ Truth be told, he didn't really feel all that scared of the possibility of falling for Jeno. At least not as much as he was months ago, not after all the conversations and interactions they've had. Jeno had never once ticked him off, even now as he bit his lip in a cocky manner while flexing like a damn fool.

He was about to answer, but then their eyes meet and he can't help but gasp loudly and cock his head down to hide himself with embarrassment. “Oh you're sure whipped… Who would've thought!” Donghyuck teases and Renjun smacks his thigh harshly to shut him up. “I'll let you know, lover boy is flushed like a damn tomato and finally stopped checking himself out.”

Renjun dares look back up only to find Jeno back on the Leg Press, face terribly red. Well, more than usual. Jeno tended to become red awfully quick due to how pale his skin was, Renjun hated that he couldn't find him ugly even then. “Whatever.”

“When are you going to ask him out?”

“Never!” He shrieks and slaps Donghyuck once again. “Not happening!”

Donghyuck snorts and rolls his eyes. “Sure, whatever you say princess.”

 

“Would you like to meet up someday?” Jeno blurts out while Renjun puts the mats in a pile.

“What?!” The boy snaps his head to the side to look at Jeno laying on the Abdominal Bench, hair messy and chest rising and falling like crazy. An interesting sight, _maybe._

“Like-” The boy gulps. “We talk so much here I thought maybe you'd like to hangout?”

Renjun stares at him, lips parted and eyebrows raised in shock. “I mean… Yeah.” His brain was still frozen with the sudden proposal. “Sure.”

“Cool! When are you free?”

“Saturday?”

Jeno smiles brightly and nods. “Sounds good, I'll text you the details?”

Renjun furrows his eyebrows. “You have my number?!”

“Donghyuck might have given it to me.” The boy admits quietly and drifts his eyes towards the wall ahead of him.

 _I'll kill the bastard._ “Right, then text me sometime.” He says and coughs right away, he hated how flustered he had gotten so suddenly. Renjun felt slightly pathetic, but the sight of Jeno smiling to himself made him feel somewhat better.

 

 

Donghyuck waves him goodbye and disappears somewhere in the distance, usually they'd walk together to the bus station but today was Saturday which meant Renjun wasn't going home just yet.

He unlocks his phone and searches for Jeno’s contact name so to warn him that he was on his way, but before he could click on the phone number, a hand grabs his shoulder harshly making him whimper in the back of his throat. “Hey princess.” A low, raspy and _sadly_ familiar voice sounds near to his ear. Renjun feels a shiver run down his body and legs start to shake with fear, a feeling he so badly tried fighting everyday of his life. He hated allowing someone else to inflict fear into him, yet there he was. “What are you doing here by yourself?”

Renjun closes his eyes and slowly removes the man’s fingers from his shoulder. “Waiting for someone.” He answers dryly and unlocks his phone again, Jeno’s name on his screen somewhat made him forget how scared he really felt. “Should be here soon enough.”

“Ah, what a shame.” Those long fingers curl on his hips, a habit Renjun used to say he loved until it had been tainted by _him._ “Ditch them for me, I miss talking to you.”

“No.” Once more, Renjun removed the man’s fingers and then takes a step forward to get away slightly.

“Why not?” He comes closer. “Don't you miss me?”

 _No._ “Leave me alone, Yuno.” Renjun almost growls, but he contains himself since he knew getting on the man's bad side wouldn't do him any good.

There weren't that many people around, which only made him want to cry even more. He hated feeling small, weak, defenseless. As if he was some sort of fragile kid that could easily succumb to people’s wishes. The protection of his job gave him some sense of confidence, but outside everything vanished. Yuno knew it, he had always taken advantage of it in fact.

“Oh come on now, you used to always want to be with me. Are you really trying to tell me that that's all gone?” Renjun stays quiet, lips pressed so tightly together that they looked like a straight thin line. “Cat got your tongue?”

“Just go.”

Again, a hand grasps his hip while the other his forearm. As much as Renjun liked to pretend he didn't care, his shaky body gave it always. Yuno must've felt it, for he seemed to gain even more confidence. “You don't actually want me gone. Always playing hard to get like the brat you are, I love it even now.”

Renjun stabs his nails against the palm of his hand. “I'm calling the cops.” He declares and swiftly unlocks his phone, clicking on Jeno’s number since it was the first thing he saw.

“No you're not.” Yuno cackles, Renjun feels his blood boil. That's what started to make him dislike the other when they had started going out, the fact that he _never_ took him seriously. “Princess stop being so hard.”

The phone rings, Renjun felt on the verge of crying with the nervousness filling his body. If Jeno didn't pick up, then he didn't quite know how he'd get out of that situation. He could try to kick Yuno’s chin and run for it, but chances of failure were scarily big.

“Jun?” Jeno’s soft voice sounds in the end of the other line, his body relaxes right away. “You coming?”

“Police hello I have a complaint.” Renjun says, loud and clear, and hoped Jeno would understand.

Yuno lets go of his forearm and instead latches his ‘claws’ onto Renjun’s hand to try and make him get off the phone, but Renjun refuses and tries his best to push the man away.

“Wait what? Are you okay?” Jeno seemed awfully worried, all Renjun could hope is that he'd get the memo quickly. “What's wrong?”

“Yes, there is a man harassing me and refuses to let go. I'm at the entrance of Deco Fitness Club.”

Slowly, he feels Yuno’s hold become weaker. His plan thankfully seemed to be working. “Wait shit what the fuck, you want me to go there?”

“No, I don't.” He stops and pretends to be hearing the police talk. “Could you please send an officer quickly?”

Yuno lets go and glares at him, defeated but angry. Not really a good combo, but id it'll let him off the hook for a while longer then Renjun didn't mind. “End the fucking call, it's useless. I'm leaving.” He snarls before turning his back and walking down the stairs. “But you can't get rid of me like this, princess.”

Renjun watches him go, Jeno wouldn't stop asking questions on the phone but his brain wasn't processing anything. “It's fine Jeno, he's gone.”

“Oh thank god.” The boy sighs with relief. “Want me to come there?”

“No.” Renjun says, lifeless, exhausted after having to keep his posture for so long. “Just give me your address. I'll come over.”

Jeno stays silent for a while, probably because he didn't expect Renjun to still want to be with him. “Okay, I'll text you.”

“Thank you.”

 

The walk there had gone by in a blur, Renjun couldn't remember any part of it. His brain had switched on automatic mode like usual, it was sort of a defense mode against overthinking. He knew if he allow himself to think too much about the whole issue he'd feel devastated, so he just didn't.

He stops nearby the block of university apartments and whips his phone out to check exactly which one Jeno lived in.  _5E, okay._ There were many people his age outside playing, or just talking, the ambient of it all was cozy. Renjun lets himself crack a smile.

“Going in?” A stranger asks when he catches Renjun searching for Jeno’s doorbell.

“Yes thank you.” He tried to grin but probably looked constipated instead, still the stranger smiled wide back at him so maybe he hadn't done such a bad job.

The elevator was broken, _typical._ Renjun’s university apartment had their elevator broken more often than not, and nobody cared because they had better things to worry about anyways.

He checks the doors as he goes up, finding amusement in the different decorations outside the doors for each apartment. Some had nothing, others were filled with painting and flashing lights. Jeno’s turns out to be simple, a single wooden kitty by the entrance with a sign saying **Welcome!**

It takes the boy less than five seconds to open the door after Renjun knocked, first comes the loud gasp and then the loud stomping sounds of Jeno’s feet. Renjun cackles to himself, it was cute.

The door opens wide revealing the boy in casual clothing, black sweatpants and black loose T-shirt, as well as unkempt hair. Renjun couldn't help but admire the view, Jeno oozed warmness n coziness off him. He swore he could smell cookies from inside too but mostly it was whatever fresh cologne Jeno had showered himself with that clogged his nostrils. Not that he was complaining, even the cliché macho perfume was nice for some reason.

“Are you okay?” Is the first thing that leaves the boy’s mouth. Renjun just nods and takes a step inside the apartment, he could smell cookies for sure now and it was making his mouth water.

“You bake?” He asks as he walks closer to what seemed to be the kitchen.

Jeno scratches his nape and laughs awkwardly. “My friend was teaching me a few hours ago, he did most of the work if I'm quite honest.” Renjun chuckles at that and shoots Jeno a questioning look while pointing at the cookies on a tiny blue plate. “Wanna eat them? Course, go ahead.”

The topic isn't brought up for hours, Renjun knew Jeno desperately wanted to ask but both were ignoring the giant elephant in the room. Until they ran out of topics and the room fell quiet, cookies had long been finished and both boys moved to the living room to eat while sitting on the floor. Now that there wasn't anything else Renjun could find to distract himself, everything hit him harshly right in the face. The happiness he had felt the moment he had seen Jeno vanished into thin air.

“Jun, are you okay?” The boy asks, softly and calmly. It was his charm, Jeno always managed to be gentle but somehow still not make him feel like he was a child.

Renjun shakes his head and lets himself fall onto the carpet, face pressed against Jeno’s thigh like it was a pillow. “No, I haven't been okay for a while now anyways.”

“Is it because of him?”

“Partly.”

Silence again, Jeno’s lips were parted as if he wanted to keep asking and Renjun truthfully wouldn't mind replying to him. But Jeno couldn't know that, to him he was still old cold Renjun he supposed.

“Just ask.” He blurts out and feels like laughing when Jeno squeals softly.

“Okay.” The boy clears his throat and shifts uncomfortably on his spot. “Is he a stalker?”

Renjun looks up at Jeno’s dark eyes. “I suppose so, he's an ex that doesn't get a grip. Like most men I meet, sadly.”

Jeno hums and subconsciously, or not, puts his hand on Renjun’s head to play with the dark brown locks in a calming fashion. “I'm sorry you go through that.” His words float in the air like there's more to it, unsaid things Jeno would've like to say. But just like Jeno doesn't act pushy with Renjun, then he wouldn't either.

He didn't mind waiting, not with Jeno.

 

 

“Good evening gorgeous.” Is not quite the thing Renjun would've liked to hear. When he heard steps in his direction his heart suddenly went mad, he knew why but wouldn't admit to it. Of course though, all he got was a big fat disappointment.

“Evening.” He says blandly without even looking up like usual.

“Look up pretty thing, why don't you?”

Renjun forces himself to raise his head but his eyes instantly drift towards the machine lounge where he could see Jeno working out. Suddenly he forgets all about the other male literally begging for some of his attention and focuses instead on how focused Jeno was lifting his whole body up. The way he did it almost made it look easy when it was everything but.

“Hello?!” The man’s annoying voice snaps him out of it. “God, I should complain to the manager for this.”

“I'm really sorry sir, anything you need?”

He smirks. “Yes, I'd-”

“Hyo! Come help me with this one!” Jeno yells from far away and Renjun smiles brightly. The man sighs loudly but finally says goodbye with a sly smirk.

 

 

His happiness doesn't last very long. Jeno hadn't directed him a word in weeks, _weeks._ To be fair Renjun hadn't tried to talk to him either but he was used to having Jeno approach him first. And of course if he didn't, then something was wrong.

But there was just so much that could be the wrong. Jeno could’ve found someone new, gotten bored of Renjun, or fled when he noticed that Renjun was slightly more complicated than some. His head wouldn't stop thinking of reasons for why they had suddenly stopped talking, and it was driving him insane.

“Just talk to him.”

Renjun gasps. “I have pride you know?!”

Donghyuck just rolls his eyes, he was sick and tired of trying to make Renjun speak to Jeno. Didn't know why he still kept on trying when Renjun was being a stubborn brat. “Your pride is ruining your happiness.”

“No. Jeno moving on ruined it but okay. I knew I shouldn't trust men even when they sound stupidly genuine and nice. It's a scam! I know better, or so I thought.” He rambles while scribbling down on his notebook angrily. If he could, he'd beat Jeno up for being just another disappointment. If he hadn't trust him to be better than everyone else then maybe it wouldn't hurt and frustrate him the same way, but he _really_ believed in Jeno. For nothing, like usual.

“You're one bitter bitch.” Donghyuck cringes and shakes his head.

Renjun glares at him. “And what about it?!”

The boy simply puts his arms up in surrender as a response and Renjun decides to go back to sketching skeletons all over his old notebook filled with anger.

 

 

A month goes by, and Renjun still hadn't been able to move on like he usually would. What annoyed him the most was that he didn't know _why_ , because usually it wasn't all that hard to ignore the person’s presence until the feelings were gone. Maybe it was hope, or just the fact that Renjun couldn't accept that Jeno was just like any other. He didn't know.

“What would you like?” Renjun asks the sweaty man who takes his time answering, seemingly busy analysing Renjun’s face to remember the excuse he had thought of to talk to him.

“Water.”

“Okay, on its way.” He mumbles but, before he turns his back, the man speaks again.

“Is there a special offer so that I can have you too?” If Renjun earned a thousand won for everytime he had to hear that, he wouldn't have to deal with annoying bulky men every again.

“Sorry no.”

“That's a pity.” He pouts, feigning hurt.

Behind the man’s broad back, Renjun recognises a familiar T-shirt that he had only seen one person wear. Jeno.

Sirens go off inside his brain, he completely forgets about the man's presence and his order as he watches the boy approach them both in his calm walking fashion that Renjun could recognise from a mile away. He couldn't even think of anything, his brain had totally frozen. Otherwise he'd probably reprimand himself for still feeling so hypnotised by Jeno.

The boy stops by the man’s side and slaps his shoulder lightly. “Yeri is having some problems with the machine-”

“Oh which?" The man cuts him off. “I'll help her.”

It was Renjun’s job technically, but it wasn't like he was going to complain for doing less work. He just felt slightly bad for Yeri since she'd be the one hearing cheesy pickup lines.

Renjun stares at Jeno’s face in silence, both because he missed it and because he was gathering the courage to speak to the other after so long. “Thank you.”

“You're welcome.”

The silence that follows is awfully awkward, Renjun wanted to smack Jeno more than anything but he couldn't. What he could do though was ask him _why_ but part of him also wanted to pretend he didn't care. “Anything you'd like or what?” It comes out colder than expected, but Renjun doesn't really feel sorry.

“No uh-” He chokes up and looks in Donghyuck’s direction for support, only to get none for the boy was tired of the drama. “Just-”

“Why are you such a dickhead?” Renjun blurts out and watches as Jeno’s eyes grow twice their size in a matter of seconds.

“There he goes.” Donghyuck whispers and hides himself behind a magazine.

Jeno blinks back at the boy and then furrows his eyebrows. “Pardon?”

“Renjun please go outside.” Donghyuck whisper yells from behind the magazine cover and pulls at his friend’s shirt to make sure he was hearing him.

He hears Donghyuck but doesn't bother replying and instead gets from behind the counter and then next to Jeno so that he can drag him by the wrist towards the little space outdoors where they had once hung out at. “I had such high hopes for you, I even told you stuff about myself while we were on speaking terms. I was allowing myself to open up and trust some gym rat and then you decide Nah, I actually don't give a fuck about Renjun suddenly!” He rambles, fire dancing in his pupils with internalised anger.

“Slow dow-”

“Don't you tell me so calm down dickhead!” Renjun shouts. “Why would you stop talking to me like that? Why do you just prove me gym rats are all trash? Fuck you.”

Jeno grabs Renjun’s wrist so stop the boy from hitting him with his fist. “Listen to me. Jun listen-” The other wiggles his whole body to try and free himself but to no avail. Jeno was stronger, his hold made of iron. “I'm sorry this is a misunderstanding-”

“Oh shut up, what exactly can I misunderstand from your silence treatment?”

The other breathes in deeply to calm down, but it doesn't quite seem to work. “I was just scared! You clearly hate whoever hits on you, and I understand why. I thought you pretended to dislike it, or played hard to get because you wanted to see who was worthy-”

Renjun pinches the bridge of his nose and groans loudly. “Why are you just like them all?”

“See Renjun! This is exactly why I distanced myself. Because I know I’ll just disappoint you or whatever, so maybe I couldn't find the courage to keep pushing knowing I'm not what you want.”

“I never said I didn't want you though.”

The little silent moment in which both look at each other with sparkly eyes from the tears that had started to form was suffocating. Jeno was still trying to find the right words to explain himself.

“Well fuck Renjun maybe not all gym lovers are airheads that only think with their penis, maybe I think too much, maybe I do still have insecurities under all the stupid and useless body mass. Is it that hard to believe? Why should I do the whole work while you wait for me to come to you? Because I also didn't see you try.”

Renjun’s bottom lip had started to tremble, both in shame and from how nervous he felt. “Because I thought you noticed I wouldn't be an easy fuck!”

Jeno looks at him with eyes filled with horror and disgust, Renjun wanted nothing but to hide from having actually said that out loud. “What are you even going on about that was never my objective…”

“It wouldn't be first time…”

The boy looks at Renjun filled with pity and sadness. All he wanted to do was hug Renjun right there and then, but he couldn't. Jeno still felt he was part of the issue. “See you've gone through all that, and now you don't really trust me. And then I feel like you see me as just another annoying dude hitting on you, and if you don't want me then I'm not the kind to force myself on anyone.”

Renjun looks down at the floor and plays with his feet nervously. “That's the problem Jeno because I did want you.”

Jeno looks so shocked that if they weren't having a serious conversation Renjun would've found it comical. “Well I'm sorry about my brain! I couldn't believe you cared for me at all.”

“I went to your house after-”

“You wanted comfort not _me._ ”

“I wanted comfort from _you._ Idiot.”

They stare at each other in silence once more. Jeno was speechless and still very much in shock, Renjun felt awfully embarrassed after exposing himself the way he had -- it was a rare occurrence since his inner thoughts tended to be seen as a joke, and so he learnt to just keep it all to himself.

“Sorry.” Jeno whispers while staring at the football fields were little ant looking people ran back and forth.

Renjun looked at the other’s face intently since he wasn't looking at him. He still found him so pretty, so handsome, all he wanted to do was jump on top of him and annoy him with kisses. “It's whatever.”

“Do we go off in different paths now?” The other asks, voice still soft as a feather, and Renjun shake his head violently.

“No.”

“No?!” Jeno looks awfully shocked once again, but instead of funny Renjun just feels frustrated. Because after all that Jeno still thought he wasn't what Renjun wanted and that infuriated him, and also made him wonder how come such a handsome and nice person like Jeno had come to be so self-conscious.

“No! I couldn't get over you, dumbass. You're going to have to hurt me badly to get rid of me now, I hope you enjoy.”

“I don't wanna hurt you.” He pouts, brows furrowed like that was an unacceptable outcome. It made Renjun smile, Jeno was truly so pure that it made his heart swell with newfound happiness.

“Then you must deal with me forever.” Renjun smirks.

Jeno pulls him closer to him so that Renjun’s face was pressed against his collarbone. He kisses the top of the boy’s head and then closes his eyes to take in the sweet fresh scent of his locks. “Sounds wonderful.”

 

 

Since Renjun had started dating Jeno, working at the gym had become less bothersome. To some extent, it was as if Renjun had his own personal bodyguard that scared the ugly pigeons away, since obviously no one took him serious until Jeno came along with his infamous bitch stare.

However Jeno still had a life, and school work to take care of. So some days were still just as bad, especially with those that tried to convince him to cheat. As if he would trade Jeno for anyone else, the idea of that made him chuckle. Those men really they thought the bigger the muscle the better they were.

“Why won't you leave breadstick legs for me? Can't you see I'm better?” The man clicks his tongue and Renjun furrows his eyebrows. _What did he just call him?_

“Only I can make fun of my _boyfriend’s_ skinny legs, so shut the fuck up before I call security on you.” He snaps, fire dancing in his eyes towards a client for the first time in forever. The man quirks his eyebrows up and puts his arms up before mumbling something under his breath and heading back from where he had popped from.

“You want this to be your last shift?” Donghyuck teases as he throws Renjun’s bag in the boy’s direction and almost hitting his face in the process. “I’m sure Jeno will live just fine if they tease him for his skinny legs.”

Renjun scoffs. “So what? I don’t like them mocking him.” He makes sure everything was in place before leaving from behind the counter and waiting for Donghyuck on the other side. The shift was thankfully over, Renjun might’ve snapped badly if he had to hear another flirtatious comment.

“Good, can’t wait for you to live in the streets because some random dude talked shit about you boyfriend.”

“I wouldn’t regret it.”

Donghyuck snorts loudly. “Yeah, I know. That’s exactly why I call you a dumb bitch every single day of my life. Just to remind you of it.” He says before sprinting away from the other, Donghyuck knew full well he would get strangled if he dared to face Renjun after that.

“Just wait till our next shift, then you will get your deserved payback!” Renjun shouts and Donghyuck sends him a big heart formed with his arms while running.

Renjun stops by the entrance and gets his phone out of his pocket to call Jeno and see if the boy was free, but before his finger even touched the screen the automatic doors slide open to reveal Jeno with ice creams in both hands. “Hey babe!” He grins and ducks down a little to plant a quick kiss on the other’s forehead. “I brought ice cream, got scared I’d be too late since the line was massive but seems like I made it on time.”

Renjun smiles back at him and then at the ice creams. “Which one is for me?”

“Well, whichever you like. Though, I might have licked the chocolate one already…”  

“We can always share them anyways.” He grabs the chocolate ice cream and starts eating it while walking out of the building. “Are we going anywhere or should we just go to your place and chill?”

Jeno rubs his chin for a second. “I got to study later in the evening so yeah I'd prefer you’d come over. Then you can do whatever while I revise.”

“Sounds good to me.” Renjun says and offers Jeno the ice cream he was holding, the boy gladly accepts.

 

 

It had only been a few weeks since they had started dating, and since then it had been basically a juggle of both of their busy schedules to try and fit some free time to be together. Often they’d end up like they were at the moment, with Jeno laying on the couch with Renjun on top of him, chest on the boy’s chest as they watched a movie or whatever was playing on TV. It was comfortable, Renjun like the idea of not having to please Jeno all the time for both of them to have a good time.

“When do you have to study?” He mumbles sleepily, Jeno’s heartbeat was so calming he felt like taking a nap right there, on top of his boyfriend as if he was a mattress.

“Let’s finish the movie first.” Jeno answers while softly playing with Renjun’s hair, twirling the strands around his index finger and ruffling them time to time. “Or are you trying to get rid of me?”

Renjun snaps him head up to look at the other, the offended look on his face made Jeno’s body go cold in fear. “What the fuck no!”

“I’m joking.” Jeno pokes the boy’s nose and giggles to try to and calm him down. “Chill.”

“You better.” He grumbles and goes back to laying his head on his boyfriend’s comfortably chest. “Want me to cook something for dinner while you’re at it?”

“Sure, I might burn down the kitchen if I try anyways.”

“I should teach you to cook, y’know?” Renjun draws random patterns on the side of Jeno’s torso.

Jeno hums. “Do I get a kiss everytime I don’t fuck up as a reward?”

And it’s then that it hits him. He stops moving and furrows his eyebrows at the realization that they hadn’t even kissed yet. Renjun felt dumb for not having noticed it but he supposed it was because he had always refused to be kissed even while going out with someone, it felt too intimate to him so it was as if his brain had erased that part of dating.

“Jun?” The other asks worriedly after Renjun becomes awfully quiet out of the blue.

“We haven’t kissed.”

“Yeah, I know.”

Renjun chances positions so that he could look at Jeno properly. “What do you mean you know?! Why haven’t you kissed me?!”

Jeno’s cheeks slowly turn into a shade of pink and he looks away in the direction of the TV. “Because I didn’t know if that’d be too fast for you so I was waiting for you to do it… or something.” He licks his lips and then bites down on the bottom one, but still refuses to look at Renjun.

“I didn’t… think about it till now. But it isn’t like I don’t want to, I’m just used to not doing it.” He explains softly and puts his hand on Jeno’s face so he could force him to turn his head. “You’re so cute-”

“Shut up.” Jeno snarls, like those harmless tiny dogs that won’t actually do anything to hurt you. “It’s not cute, you made it sound dumb.”

Renjun moves up so he could come closer to Jeno and chuckles when the boy whimpers in surprise, and probably hurt (Renjun would’ve been surprised his bony body had hurt the other somewhere when he moved). “It’s cute, shut up.”

Before Jeno could open his mouth to talk, Renjun had already slammed his lips against Jeno’s successfully shutting the boy up. It takes him a few seconds to put his arms around Renjun’s tinier frame and pull him closer so he could deepen the kiss but then hell _kind of_ breaks loose. Renjun couldn’t even complain at the intensity or hunger of the kiss, because frankly it felt better than any other so far. Perhaps it was because he could feel how much Jeno liked him through it, or because it was Jeno in general kissing him and not some other dude. Either way, he kisses back just as hard, biting here and there much to Jeno’s surprise who makes a shocked noise in the back of his throat the first time he had done it.

They don’t know how long it had been, but when they break apart the credits were already rolling loudly in the background so Renjun gets up to turn off the TV and then goes back to laying on top of Jeno who was panting loudly. “So.” His boyfriend breathes out and chuckles.

“So that was nice and you better do it again.” Renjun smiles brightly and places one last kiss on the boy’s swollen lips. “If you stupid brain tells you I don’t want it, then tell it to fuck off.”

Jeno laughs out loud, almost makes them fall off the couch in the process. “I should study now.” He pouts and pinches Renjun’s cheek.

“For every exercise you get right, I will give you a kiss then.”

The boy perks up at that. “Can’t believe you make studying sound appealing.”

 

**Author's Note:**

> i decided to not speak of the that ex dude again firstly bc i want this fic to be pretty light hearted and secondly because.. i didnt wanna make it much longer. ik its a loose end i hate that BUT i think we can all live with it right.. right? *awk laughter* 
> 
> #jenodontskiplegday2k18 <3
> 
> [curious cat](https://curiouscat.me/aquadons)  [twitter](https://mobile.twitter.com/ultraviolentae)
> 
>  


End file.
